Saturday, March 1, 2008

Mexico City

When I found out I was going to get the opportunity to visit DF, I thought I would like it, I didn't expect to love it. Yesterday, our work ended early and we had the opportunity to go to Zócalo for lunch. We walked around and I was overwhelmed by the beautiful architecture of the area. We then entered the Palacio Nacional, home to some of Diego Rivera's murals. Looking at the murals brought out an emotional reaction I hadn't expected. "Epic of the Mexican People in their Struggle for Freedom and Independence" was nothing short of amazing. I hadn't expected to like Diego Rivera as much as I like Frida, but after seeing these beautiful murals it was difficult to compare. Afterwards we had lunch at a small cafe tucked in between music shops and clothing stores. I had enchiladas rojas and they were great. But, I don't feel like the food was more "Mexican" than anything I have had before. Maybe I need to visit the interiors of Mexico, but I found the food to be very good, and very much on par with all other types of Mexican food I've ever eaten.

Today, we ventured out to the Bazaar del Sabado, an area in San Angel which is filled with artisans and unique gifts. It was very cool. I bought myself a beaded Mexican shirt that feels like it weighs like 3 pounds. It's not the typical embroidered shirt which is why I like it. I also bought myself a gold ring with a square blue lapiz in the middle. We spent like 3 hours looking at stuff. We then ate Marlin tacos at the restaurant there, and ventured off to Frida Kahlo's house.

Frida had a beautiful house, and I was touched by the personal photographs and poems that were presented. I have no doubts that her and Diego were in love with other each other from seeing their personal correspondence and photographs. I had hoped to see some of her art, but I guess I'll have to wait for her exhibition at SF MOMA in June.

Afterwards, we ventured into some ghetto part of Mexico that was home to Museo de Diego Rivera Anahuacalli. It wasn't quite what I expected, but it was cool. It is the home of Diego Rivera's personal collection of art. He never accepted fees for his work but asked for artifacts instead. As a result, he had tons of Pre-Hispanic artifacts representing the Olmecs, Mayans, Aztecs, and other indigenous people of Mexico. The museum itself is housed in a replica of one of the pyramids in Teotihuacan.

I came back to my hotel and had some sushi and red wine at the roof top bar. Alone. It was awesome.